Childhood dreams still relevant

“I think 2000 will be a good year,” Michael Beal said. “I hope so because the last five years haven’t been so good with people dying and getting shot and murdered.

I hope I will be a grown man by then and will be married. I’ll probably have kids. I hope it will be a good America.”

Beal wrote these words when he was 10 years old, living in Steubenville, Ohio. The year was 1977. Beal and his classmates were asked by the local newspaper to predict what life would be like in the year 2000.

The predictions ran a wide range. Some became true: high commodities prices, female astronauts and pocket computers.

Others were a bit fantastic or strange: colonies on Mars or keeping the same friends after high school.

A few were laughably dated, retro-futuristic ideas, like robot servants.
One, in particular, is heartbreaking.

“I hope the violence has stopped. I hope that computers don’t take over people’s jobs.”
When I found these predictions on the Smithsonian’s Paleofuture blog, they struck something in me.

I had been thinking a lot about what I was like as a child — what my dreams were, where I would be and what I expected to be like today, just a few months before my 21st birthday.

I wonder if I lived up to my own expectations for myself and for the world, just as I’m sure Beal and all the other young writers do.

We could talk about my first scholarly love, paleontology, which started from about the time I could read.

That has obviously gone by the wayside, since I’m studying policy, but some other dreams have come true.

For instance, here I am at IU. Despite being raised in Chicagoland, outside the Hoosier Nation epicenter, I loved IU basketball from the time I was able to comprehend the most basic plays.

Bob Knight was my hero when I was about 6 years old.

My mind was made up early that I should come to IU.

I had a short “I need to go to a private university” phase in high school, but I recovered from that silliness and achieved my childhood dream.

Circling back to Steubenville, Beal’s predictions made me consider my younger self’s thoughts about family.

I adored my parents and grandparents. Even though I disagree with them often now, including in my columns, I still love them immensely.

After a series of unhealthy relationships, I have a stable, loving girlfriend and long-term plans.

I think little Evan would be happy with everything I have. My morals and predilections have evolved greatly, I can’t believe I ever liked the band Creed and I’m happy with who I’ve become.

College is a forward-thinking time. We are developing skills to use in our future endeavors, and we are always moving in that direction.

I still believe we should all take a moment and reflect on the juvenile hopes and dreams that have helped propel us to this point.

­— estahr@indiana.edu